My first Deck

[trugracie 14]

I'm just getting in to Residential cleaning, so I called a buddy of mine to see if I could wash his beat up deck.

The way we figured, its so old it wouldn't matter if I messed up or not.

Well, here it is, please feel free to criticize and let me know how I did, and how I can better myself.

Thanks in advance!

BTW this was done with no chems, just my 3.5 gpm 4000psi machine with the 25 degree nozzle.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Ok, I will start off with a question for you.

Do you wash your dishes without soap? How well does the grease come off without soap.

How about your laundry? Do you use soap, softener, bleach, spot pretreater/prewash?

When you take a shower?

I think you get my drift.

Wood can be water chiseled with a pressure washer to make it look clean because you are removing much of the wood the

contaminants were residing on.

The problems with pressure alone are as follows:

1. High pressure washing removes the early wood (soft wood between the grain) and creates a corduroy type condition which can only

be remedied by sanding. Some call this 'raising the grain' which is a misconception and a lack of understanding of the woods reaction to getting wet.

If you take a piece of wood and add a drop of water to it... the grain will respond by swelling up as it absorbs it. Problem is, it doesn't always return to the previous

condition and requires sanding to get rid of it. Hot water amplifies this condition.

2.Water is the universal solvent but alone it cannot act against many types of contaminants found on decks. Just like cleaning a restaurant hood, you would never rely on hot water alone. You use a caustic to cut the grease so the water can wash it away.

Decks are exposed to 'life' as a generality and with that comes food, grease from the bbq grill, drinks which are often acidic and some which contain tannins (wine) and microorganisms from decomposing food.

Then you have pet and other wild life waste which can be a biohazard in itself.

Mother nature is hard at work with mold, algae, and deciduous matter from trees (leaves, pitch, sap) which stain the wood and promote the growth of mold by water retention.

Water alone cannot sanitize, make soluble, emulsify or otherwise dissolve much of these without the aid of soap.

It is likely you have heard some of these industry terms and buzz words related to cleaners, bleach and other products since you have a background in hood cleaning so I will address you on that level.

Surfactants, emulsifiers, caustic builders and neutralizers/brighteners are all a part of wood cleaning chemicals.

The most widely accepted method of cleaning is a 2 step method which consists of a cleaner/stripper and brightener/neutralizer.

The first is for the purpose of cleaning obviously and can also be used at higher concentrations to strip with if it is designed to do so.

We use a product which has this dual purpose.

The brightener/Neutralizer is for bringing the wood back to its original pH and neutralizing the stripping agent used to remove old finishes/coatings etc.

Chlorine bleach is the most controversial so do a search here and I am sure you will find much to entertain you about the pro's and cons of it.

Your use of a 25* tip is not bad but is reserved for use on decks that are being stripped. A 40* tip is much more innocuous and can cover a wider swatch with each pass.

The one thing I will bring to focus is nozzle distance to the wood. There is a minimum distance required to avoid damage. 6" is the minimum distance. Your speed of each pass will determine your effectiveness. A good rule of thumb is to make the pattern of contact at the wood on 6" wide decking to cover that plank and the opposite side of each adjacent plank. Ie; you will cover the entire board plus the sides of the adjacent boards to get into the space between them.

As your technique improves, you may learn how to get closer but also understand that your pass speed must also increase as you do. Experiment with this technique and evaluate the results. Look for splintering, soft grain culling (raised grain profile/corduroy effect), stop/start marks (the effect generated by abrupt reversal of direction without a sweeping motion to avoid scaring the wood which looks like a rake in the sand that stops suddenly. Only, this is in the wood grain.

Trust me, this is amateur and a point your competition will spot.

The whole purpose of wood restoration is to clean the wood without damaging it and bringing it back to a cleaner and more natural state than it was before and then applying a protective coating, finish or preservative to help maintain that condition for the duration of the particular products capability.

Anything less is a black eye to the industry and makes it harder on the rest of us who are trying to make a living in this field who have to dispel the worries and fears a customer has had in order to trust someone to provide this service for them. It is from this perspective I post articles like this to help raise the standards of performance before the bad habits can set in.

I have read many of your recent posts and can tell you are trying to learn how to do things right and avoid problems so I respond in kind to get you off on the right methods and mindset.

Rod!~

[Celeste 341]

omg..........

[trugracie 14]

Woooow Rod!!!

I really appreciate all the information you keep posting on every one of my threads.

The whole time I was cleaning the deck I knew there had to be some kind of chemical or process to this.

I have been desperately looking for information on the whole wood restoration as well as the whole residential aspect. Unfortunately there isn't much out there since obviously nobody wants to give away their secret of success.

You on the other hand have my out most respect for your point of view and professionalism. Of course we want to properly represent our industry, and jealousy/selfishness will definitely not help the cause.

I will take your advice in the matter and start looking for a chemical/soap to do the right job. I'll keep doing freebies for friends and family until I get it right, and then hopefully make some money.

omg..........

Meaning?????????????

Is it that bad?

Or are you overwhelmed as I am with all the info Rod Provided?

[apsurfacesolutions 17]

Woooow Rod!!!

I really appreciate all the information you keep posting on every one of my threads.

The whole time I was cleaning the deck I knew there had to be some kind of chemical or process to this.

I have been desperately looking for information on the whole wood restoration as well as the whole residential aspect. Unfortunately there isn't much out there since obviously nobody wants to give away their secret of success.

I found all the information by using the search function. Between here and PTState you can find everything you need to know to do wood restoration.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

The Library

I am going to direct you to the most common area of this forum to find more information on wood restoration.

There is an abundance of information contributed by members of this forum over the years and quite a bit of information pertaining to chemicals.

Rod!~

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Also go here: Pressure Washing and Contractor Cleaning Forums - The Grime Scene FAQ

I don't mean to brag, but this forum has been the premier place for wood care for MANY years. We are not distributor owned, and the best woodies in the industry have posted tons of valuable stuff for many many years.....

Beth

[Celeste 341]

Woooow Rod!!!

I really appreciate all the information you keep posting on every one of my threads.

The whole time I was cleaning the deck I knew there had to be some kind of chemical or process to this.

I have been desperately looking for information on the whole wood restoration as well as the whole residential aspect. Unfortunately there isn't much out there since obviously nobody wants to give away their secret of success.

You on the other hand have my out most respect for your point of view and professionalism. Of course we want to properly represent our industry, and jealousy/selfishness will definitely not help the cause.

I will take your advice in the matter and start looking for a chemical/soap to do the right job. I'll keep doing freebies for friends and family until I get it right, and then hopefully make some money.

Meaning?????????????

Is it that bad?

Or are you overwhelmed as I am with all the info Rod Provided?

I'm sorry - but yes, it was bad. My husband's company is in North Carolina and we, like Beth & Rod, tend to specialize in wood. It's just scary to see sometimes what the "competition" is. Glad you're here to learn properly. It helps us all in the long run.

Also - Roger has trained quite a few contractors on wood care. Please don't hesitate to call him. 336-516-6139

[trugracie 14]

I'm sorry - but yes, it was bad. My husband's company is in North Carolina and we, like Beth & Rod, tend to specialize in wood. It's just scary to see sometimes what the "competition" is. Glad you're here to learn properly. It helps us all in the long run.

Also - Roger has trained quite a few contractors on wood care. Please don't hesitate to call him. 336-516-6139

Well thank you very much for the information!

That's exactly the reason why I decided to it not only free, but on a deck my buddy was planning to re-do anyway. Now he tells me, he just might keep it a while longer since it looks much cleaner. Go Figure!!!

Any way, YES I'm here to learn how to do it right. To me there's nothing like the satisfaction that I gave it my best, but that it looks like it should be or better.

[Adrian 155]

Ok, I will start off with a question for you.

Do you wash your dishes without soap? How well does the grease come off without soap.

How about your laundry? Do you use soap, softener, bleach, spot pretreater/prewash?

When you take a shower?

I think you get my drift.

Wood can be water chiseled with a pressure washer to make it look clean because you are removing much of the wood the

contaminants were residing on.

The problems with pressure alone are as follows:

1. High pressure washing removes the early wood (soft wood between the grain) and creates a corduroy type condition which can only

be remedied by sanding. Some call this 'raising the grain' which is a misconception and a lack of understanding of the woods reaction to getting wet.

If you take a piece of wood and add a drop of water to it... the grain will respond by swelling up as it absorbs it. Problem is, it doesn't always return to the previous

condition and requires sanding to get rid of it. Hot water amplifies this condition.

2.Water is the universal solvent but alone it cannot act against many types of contaminants found on decks. Just like cleaning a restaurant hood, you would never rely on hot water alone. You use a caustic to cut the grease so the water can wash it away.

Decks are exposed to 'life' as a generality and with that comes food, grease from the bbq grill, drinks which are often acidic and some which contain tannins (wine) and microorganisms from decomposing food.

Then you have pet and other wild life waste which can be a biohazard in itself.

Mother nature is hard at work with mold, algae, and deciduous matter from trees (leaves, pitch, sap) which stain the wood and promote the growth of mold by water retention.

Water alone cannot sanitize, make soluble, emulsify or otherwise dissolve much of these without the aid of soap.

It is likely you have heard some of these industry terms and buzz words related to cleaners, bleach and other products since you have a background in hood cleaning so I will address you on that level.

Surfactants, emulsifiers, caustic builders and neutralizers/brighteners are all a part of wood cleaning chemicals.

The most widely accepted method of cleaning is a 2 step method which consists of a cleaner/stripper and brightener/neutralizer.

The first is for the purpose of cleaning obviously and can also be used at higher concentrations to strip with if it is designed to do so.

We use a product which has this dual purpose.

The brightener/Neutralizer is for bringing the wood back to its original pH and neutralizing the stripping agent used to remove old finishes/coatings etc.

Chlorine bleach is the most controversial so do a search here and I am sure you will find much to entertain you about the pro's and cons of it.

Your use of a 25* tip is not bad but is reserved for use on decks that are being stripped. A 40* tip is much more innocuous and can cover a wider swatch with each pass.

The one thing I will bring to focus is nozzle distance to the wood. There is a minimum distance required to avoid damage. 6" is the minimum distance. Your speed of each pass will determine your effectiveness. A good rule of thumb is to make the pattern of contact at the wood on 6" wide decking to cover that plank and the opposite side of each adjacent plank. Ie; you will cover the entire board plus the sides of the adjacent boards to get into the space between them.

As your technique improves, you may learn how to get closer but also understand that your pass speed must also increase as you do. Experiment with this technique and evaluate the results. Look for splintering, soft grain culling (raised grain profile/corduroy effect), stop/start marks (the effect generated by abrupt reversal of direction without a sweeping motion to avoid scaring the wood which looks like a rake in the sand that stops suddenly. Only, this is in the wood grain.

Trust me, this is amateur and a point your competition will spot.

The whole purpose of wood restoration is to clean the wood without damaging it and bringing it back to a cleaner and more natural state than it was before and then applying a protective coating, finish or preservative to help maintain that condition for the duration of the particular products capability.

Anything less is a black eye to the industry and makes it harder on the rest of us who are trying to make a living in this field who have to dispel the worries and fears a customer has had in order to trust someone to provide this service for them. It is from this perspective I post articles like this to help raise the standards of performance before the bad habits can set in.

I have read many of your recent posts and can tell you are trying to learn how to do things right and avoid problems so I respond in kind to get you off on the right methods and mindset.

Rod!~

Here here, this should be the universal "answer" to anyone asking themselves if they want to learn wood resto or not.

[David Phillips 14]

No matter how many decks you've done or what your experience level, we all had to start somewhere. You're on the right track, just keep reading, learning and asking questions. Get you some old deck boards or fence panels and practice, practice, practice!

[Nigelseraneau 14]

Wow!!!! Nice post Rod! Good job trugracie. Not bad for a first try! you did 25% of the work, the chems would of probably did the other 75%, hey... practice makes perfect. What I like about your experience was, that rather than go out posing like an expert, and messing up some poor customers deck, you chose to practice on a friends old deck that wouldnt mind. I am a newbie as well to the whole wood restoration aspect of pressure washing. My experience is in KEC as well. kudos to you. I do the same thing. I read as many post as possible. I listen to the guys that do this every day. Then I get out there and practice as much as possible before ever trying to sell a service. I would hate to destroy someones deck or wood shingles etc. It would eat me up inside. I have alot of pride in my work and my reputation. Keep doing what your doing bro! Hey have a quick question while were on the topic of wood decks. I recently saw a guy using a surface cleaner on a wood deck. I thought to my self WTH! looks like a disaster waiting to happen. I later went back just to see how it came out & suprisingly it came out pretty good. no raised grain or furry stuff. I figured he must of had his pressure down real low and used a big gpm nozzel. is this reccomended for cleaning wood decks? how would hot water do in the same situation. What degree nozzel would be best? 40? Well hope its not a silly Question just wanted to know. Thanks. Good luck and prosperity to all.

Ps. That was an amazing post Rod! I feel like i just got schooled! love it! I had to copy and paste that one to my doc for quick refference! Encore!!! Encore!!!

Edited February 8, 2012 by Nigelseraneau

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

When I get some time, I will elaborate more on this and post the article in the TGS blog.

Thanks for the feedback. It helps to know others have found this topic useful.

Rod!~

[Adrian 155]

Surface cleaners and hot water = No.